Sunday, July 10, 2011

The end

This is it my friends... the last post on the blog.

What an epic journey the last year was. I can't even start to describe how great it was. I have experienced so many things, met so many new friends and just had a blast. If you ask me what my highlights were, I would be hard pressed to give you an answer. I was about to make a list of a few but to be honest there are just too many to list and I would probably forget about half. Many people I met asked me if I had a favourite place, a country I enjoyed most. So far my answer has always been Japan but I think each and every country, every city or town I visited had it's own unique and great experiences. Some places I loved for the people I met, some for the nature, some for the vibe of the cities and some for a million other reasons.

I am so grateful for every day I had and I will cherish each and every one of them until the day I die. I am sure I will bore my grand kids with stories of this trip. I'm sure my relatives don't realize yet but this trip will be all I will talk about for a long time to come... sorry about that folks ;)

It feels like I left Switzerland just yesterday. I am pretty sure this is a good sign. Actually I would love nothing more than to leave Switzerland tomorrow and do it all again.. but then again, there are so many more places I want to visit. I think I caught the travel bug. Will I do something like this again? I don't know, only time will tell. Right now I am focused on finding a job and getting back to earn some money. Once the cash flow is established again, I am sure I will start saving again... maybe for another big trip eh?

You might wonder; "Simon do you feel different now? Do you think you changed?" To be honest, I don't feel like I have. Sure I have more experience than before but I think overall I am the same person. Although, I might not have noticed... I guess my friends and relatives will tell me a few weeks down the line.

I posted 88 times in the last year and had an overall of over 6500 unique hits. I wanted to say thanks to everybody that stopped by on my blog. Without you all stopping by, this would have been a rather pointless endeavour. I am glad you came along for the ride for a little bit.

Just because I discontinue this blog, doesn't mean I will never blog again. I have plans to establish a photography blog but how, when and where are things I still have to think over. I will let you all know once the plans are solid. I still have lots to learn in that department (photography that is). Especially the post processing is something I will have to look deeper into.. sadly my netbook is not good enough for this and I will have to wait till I get a better computer before I can get serious about it. The lines are open, donations are now accepted :-p

One last thing, a big thank you to everybody I met. You all made this journey so great. Without the people I met all over the world this trip would have been rather dull. I hope to meet you all again somewhere, someday. If you ever pass through Switzerland, do let me know, you are always welcome to crash at my place!

I close with the words that inspired me to do this trip at all:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain


so long and thanks for all the fish

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

This is it....

montreal skyline

.... the end my friends... or nearly. At least I can tell you this, this is my last post from abroad. I am not quite done with my blog just yet. I have a post or two planned when I am back in Switzerland. I want to reflect on my last year and stuff like that.

Right now I am a bit more than 24h away from the end of my trip. It makes me sad to think about it. I thought I would leave Montreal on thursday and not tomorrow.. then I got told that I am wrong and I am leaving tomorrow... I don't know why but that made me really depressed. I know it's silly because it's only a day less. But still it's true. btw, thanks for reminding me that I am flying on the 6th.. you know who you are :D

In the last few days I have been walking around Montreal, went to see the Jazz festival and spent lots n lots of time just sitting in the park, reading and enjoying the sun. You might think I am wasting my last few days but as you might know, I have been here twice before and I really enjoy not doing much at the moment. I enjoy living the easy life in this great city.

so no more time wasting with blogging, time to go out and enjoy the weather. I promise there is a lot of text coming in the next post or two. If you don't intend to stick around for that, thanks for reading my blog over the last year. Whereever I met you, whoever you are, I hope to see you again!

stay fresh

Random painted house near rue St.Deniz

the famous tam tam in Parc Mont Royal

another view of the city

big church?

big house?


nice house!